Thursday, October 05, 2006

At least 17 killed in Kenya-Ethiopia border clash

NYERI, Kenya, Oct 5 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed in clashes between Kenyan police and Ethiopian raiders after a dawn attack on a village in the east Africa nation's remote and violent north, an official said on Thursday.Kenyan police shot dead 16 Ethiopians after they killed one villager and wounded three in the attack on a small village in the Marsabit district of Kenya on Wednesday.

"We don't know their number, but they were many," Marsabit district commissioner Mutea Iringo told Reuters by telephone.

"When they attacked, they were overpowered by a combined force of the regular and administration police."

Kenya's lawless north, long neglected by the central government, is notorious for banditry and fights between pastoralists over scarce resources. Police and army numbers are inadequate to patrol the vast area.

Iringo said the border was sealed off, adding: "We have now launched an aerial search using a military helicopter to try and track down the militiamen if they are still in our territory".